Washington Post finds a way to pee on the Beijing triumph of Trump's six-year-old granddaughter

In an article that rises to the level of self-parody, a Washington Post journalist with the Dickensian name Simon Denyer turns a touching moment of triumph into a bit of an ordeal. As most readers know, President Trump's granddaughter Arabella Kushner wowed an audience and the Chinese internet by singing three songs and reciting classical Chinese poetry. Although shot with low production values (a home video, see?), the performance was expertly scripted to pull Chinese heartstrings, addressing the Chinese leader and his wife as "Uncle" and "Auntie," as is often done in Chinese culture when families are close.

(I should note that young Miss Kushner's pronunciation of the tonal language is pretty good – certainly better than what I was able to accomplish studying the language at Harvard after attaining adulthood. She has learned the language the right way, from a nanny.)

Arabella's mother, Ivanka Trump, already has a huge following in China and reportedly often is called a "goddess" in Chinese social media. And, you may have noticed, raising children to be highly accomplished is a value embraced by many Chinese parents.

How do you denigrate a home run like this? Find a victim! In this case, the six-year-old slugger of that home run:

BEIJING – For many Chinese people, it was a slightly excruciating reminder of their own childhoods, that moment when their parents aggressively boast of their accomplishments in front of other people, or, even worse, force them to perform for relatives and members of the older generation.

But for 6-year-old Arabella Kushner, the difference was that her performance would be scrutinized by none other than the Chinese president, his wife and a good proportion of the Chinese nation.

It only took nine words to fit in the word "excruciating."

Laughable.

In an article that rises to the level of self-parody, a Washington Post journalist with the Dickensian name Simon Denyer turns a touching moment of triumph into a bit of an ordeal. As most readers know, President Trump's granddaughter Arabella Kushner wowed an audience and the Chinese internet by singing three songs and reciting classical Chinese poetry. Although shot with low production values (a home video, see?), the performance was expertly scripted to pull Chinese heartstrings, addressing the Chinese leader and his wife as "Uncle" and "Auntie," as is often done in Chinese culture when families are close.

(I should note that young Miss Kushner's pronunciation of the tonal language is pretty good – certainly better than what I was able to accomplish studying the language at Harvard after attaining adulthood. She has learned the language the right way, from a nanny.)

Arabella's mother, Ivanka Trump, already has a huge following in China and reportedly often is called a "goddess" in Chinese social media. And, you may have noticed, raising children to be highly accomplished is a value embraced by many Chinese parents.

How do you denigrate a home run like this? Find a victim! In this case, the six-year-old slugger of that home run:

BEIJING – For many Chinese people, it was a slightly excruciating reminder of their own childhoods, that moment when their parents aggressively boast of their accomplishments in front of other people, or, even worse, force them to perform for relatives and members of the older generation.

But for 6-year-old Arabella Kushner, the difference was that her performance would be scrutinized by none other than the Chinese president, his wife and a good proportion of the Chinese nation.